Students in CSU system find tuition costs lowest in nation

Resident undergraduate, graduate rates are least expensive

LONG BEACH >> Chico State may be down almost 4,700 students from its highestever enrollment of 17,789 in 2017, but the school has one big factor on its side as it tries to return to those heights: lower cost.

In fact, the California State University system features the most-affordable higher education in the United States, according to a report Chancellor’s Office staff presented to CSU trustees this month. The CSU system’s 23 schools have the nation’s lowest average tuition and fees — an attractive selling point as it recruits high school graduates as well as transferring students to attend.

Data from the report once again demonstrates that the CSU’s annual undergraduate and graduate resident tuition and fees are lower than those of 15 peer comparison institutions across the country.

With just one tuition increase in the last 11 years, CSU’s annual tuition for an undergraduate resident student checks in at just $5,742. When including the average for campusbased fees, that total moves to $7,520 — nearly $1,300 less than the next university from the comparison group, the University of Nevada, at $8,797. Tops is the University of Connecticut at $19,434 for a single year.

For graduate students, the CSU system average annual tuition is $8,954, still the lowest in the nation. Georgia State University in Atlanta is next-lowest at $10,872. Connecticut leads this category as well, at $21,262.

The only area in which the CSU system doesn’t have the best price is the nonresident undergraduate tuition rate — but just barely. CSU students in this category pay $19,400 on average annually, bested only by Cleveland State University in Ohio at $17,359. Again, Connecticut has the most expensive public education cost at $42,102, per year.

Students enjoy even greater benefits from enrolling in the system. Thanks to robust financial aid, more than 387,600 students — 81% — of all CSU enrollees received financial assistance. Nearly 61% of all undergraduate students do not pay tuition as it is fully covered through financial aid.

When it comes to the serious problem of student debt, 2020-21 CSU bachelor’s degree recipients who did accrue loan debt had lower average debt — $17,966 — than the state average of $21,125. It was considerably lower than the national average of $28.950.

Jerry Ross, Chico State’s associate vice president of Enrollment Management, said Wednesday that marketing to prospective students, and recruitment, have been areas in which the school has been “slow to evolve” as it seeks to rebound from its current spring semester enrollment of 13,101.

On the other hand, Ross said new outreach efforts are beginning to show positive results in attracting applicants. One of the things Chico State can highlight — as is true at all universities in the system — is the affordability of a higher education.